Horses are particularly susceptible to injuries to the lower legs resulting from stress and shock forces incurred during hard running and from external blows due to the horse kicking itself or being kicked by other horses in close proximity, such as during races.
Accordingly, flexible, support boots or wraps have been developed to protect the lower leg area from external blows and to provide support for the tendons, bones and suspensory ligaments. Examples of prior art leg support wraps for horses are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,627 to Scott and 5,579,627 to Vogt.
However, in spite of the prior devices developed, such as disclosed in the Scott and Vogt patents, certain problems have gone unsolved with regard to providing support and protection for equine limbs, such as both the front and rear lower legs of a horse, particularly between the pastern and the knee and including the ligaments, tissues, tendons, the fetlock, fetlock joint and the splint bone. The fetlock joint, in particular, is susceptible to injury during hard running since stress on the joint structure tends to cause the joint to flex sufficiently to overstretch the joint tissues and such that the fetlock will impact the ground.
The construction of prior art support wraps does not provide adequate protection for the fetlock and the fetlock joint. For example, wraps which are provided with laterally extending straps or cradle slings for the fetlock are susceptible to being attached improperly when the wrap is applied to the leg, thus not adequately supporting the fetlock or the leg tendons and tissues. Moreover, the so-called fetlock cradle sling straps of the wraps disclosed in the Scott and Vogt patents do not adequately cover the fetlock and thus do not add additional protection to the fetlock to prevent injury from impact blows or contact with the ground, for example.
Prior art wraps have also been susceptible to rapid wear and deterioration of the cradle sling portions of wraps applied to the rear legs, since the fetlock joints of the rear legs, in particular are likely to make hard and scuffing contact with the ground.
Another problem with prior art support devices pertains to the difficulty with which the wrap or support is attached to the leg and properly positioned on the leg. If the wrap is not properly positioned on the leg, support for the suspensory ligaments, tendons and bone structure is inadequate and, if the wrap is improperly secured, it may become loose and fall off during use. If the wrap is applied too tightly it will be uncomfortable to the horse and may actually be the cause of injury.
Another longstanding problem in the art of protecting and supporting the lower legs of a horse pertains to the tendency for the horse to kick itself in the vicinity of the splint bone of the lower leg. This action typically occurs during turning movements of the horse while it is running and may result in breaking the bone in some instances.
Accordingly, further improvements in support wraps or boots for horses' legs have been sought and have been obtained with the present invention.